Reports & Forecasts: November 2025

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag
Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
Fishing for both trout and redfish improves significantly when November rolls around, after something of a lull earlier in the fall, James says. “The pretty weather we often have in October can make the fishing tough. Light winds, bright skies and weak tide movements create a tough bite, especially if we have a standing high bull tide, which we often do. But, by the time November comes, we usually have gotten at least a couple significant fronts to stir things up in a positive way. When strong north and northwest winds blow the water out of Green’s Lake, Carancahua Lake and Jones Lake, the shrimp get on the move, and the gulls start working. I’m not above stopping off to throw lures under working birds, but other patterns which perk up this time of year get more of my attention. Wading in areas of Lower Galveston, East and Trinity bays picks up significantly once water temps drop and tide levels return to a more normal number. In some situations, fishing in the late afternoon is best. The bite on hard baits can be fantastic in this situation, even for people drifting the open areas of West Bay.”

Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Jim expects to be running some duck hunts in November, though he doesn’t have as much property to use as in a normal year. “I did agree not to hunt some of my fields this year, where seismic activity is taking place, but I do have one really nice pond to use during big duck season. I also plan on fishing quite a bit this fall, since I’ll be running fewer duck hunts. If things continue as they have been, and the water’s salty all the way to Jack’s Pocket in Trinity Bay, I’ll likely be heading up that way somewhere to do most of my fishing. The wading can be great in areas around there this month, if the water’s salty. If we get more rain, the action might center around Smith Point, or over here in East Bay. Watching the amount of water coming through the dam is a key to figuring out where the best action will be. Wading the afternoon hours and even into the first hour or so of the night is often the best way to take advantage of the patterns which work well once the water cools down heading into winter.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall fishes a variety of productive patterns during the Thanksgiving month. Normally, around Halloween or so, strong cold fronts roll through the area, driving water temperatures and tide levels down, sending all the shrimp and other small creatures out of the numerous marshes and backwater areas in the bays around San Luis Pass. This sets up the perfect scenario for fishing under working gulls, which pinpoint the locations of schools of trout feeding on the migrating herds of shrimp. While this is happening, the fishing in deeper areas between San Luis Pass and Carancahua Reef can also be good. In those places, staying around the giant rafts of jumping mullet and reading the slicks and even the activity of birds like cormorants, pelicans and terns can be helpful in the quest to find the fish. On warmer days, with higher tides, wading in the back-lakes and coves can be great. Throwing slow-sinking twitch baits around reefs and at shoreline points often works well then. Of course, when the tide is moving right, areas right around the Pass produce good catches too, as trout, redfish and flounder intercept some of the species moving out of the bays and into the Gulf for winter.

Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging - Glenn’s Guide Service
979.479.1460 - www.glennsguideservice.com
November may be my favorite month of the year to fish Matagorda. Our fall fishing is well under way already, and the fishing has been excellent. Working the birds in East and West Matagorda bays continues to pay off for trout and increasingly more reds as this month goes on. Soft plastics like Hogie’s Major Minnows and Bass Assassin Sea Shads are highly effective this time of year. Soft plastics under Coastal Corks are a great option as well. Vudu Shrimp and MirrOlure Lil’ Johns work well under a cork when working the birds. As fun as fishing the birds is, the wadefishing in November is also outstanding. Wading the reefs in East Matagorda should produce quality trout all month, as long as winds are relatively light. The shoreline coves and reefs will produce some big trout and keeper reds too. Barring any excessive rain, we should see quite a few fish in our area rivers as well. Look for big concentrations of shad and mullet, and the trout and reds won’t be far behind. One of the biggest keys to success in river fishing is playing the moving water; our rivers really produce best when the tide is flowing with good strength.

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam
www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204
The last six weeks have produced the best fishing of the year so far. Redfish have dominated our boxes lately, as they have shown up with the big tides. We’ve been fishing as far back in the marshes and creeks as we can go, and they have been thick back there. The 3.5” Vudu Shrimp in Cajun and natural colors tipped with a Fish-bite and dangled under popping corks have accounted for most of the fish in the marsh. Reds on the shorelines have started schooling pretty good, and we’ve been throwing Matrix Shads in Cajun Pepper to catch them best in those places. Redfish have also been numerous around shell reefs in about three feet of water, where they’re taking either live or dead shrimp readily. Our trout bite has not been as good, though there are a few out around deep structures such as well pads and deep reefs in the bays, but not thick like they were in the peak of the hot weather period. Lower water temperatures will spread them out, and then the bird activity will help us find them. Turtle Bay, South Bay and the spoils along the ship channel will be good spots this fall to look for working gulls.

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
Lynn was having good luck catching trout on topwaters on the trips he took in the days before giving this report. “Lately, we’ve been targeting our trout on big grass beds on flats lying close to deeper water. This pattern has been working for us for quite some time. We’re catching some quality trout too, mostly on topwaters, with a mix of slot reds thrown in. I doubt this pattern will work as well once we get to November. Normally, that time of year, we start getting some stronger cold fronts which drive water temperatures down and change the patterns. I start leaving the dock later in the mornings and fishing through the afternoon hours, to let the sun warm up the water on the flats some. We also usually wind up targeting our fish around reefs surrounded by bottom that’s a mix of silty mud and scattered shell. The trout and reds will often move up out of the deeper water and look for meals around reefs like that when the water temperatures are in the 50s and 60s. Then, slow-sinking twitchbaits and soft plastics often work better than topwaters, though we do still catch some on top when the weather’s warming.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
In November, Blake looks forward to the return of cast-n-blast season. “Big duck season brings cast-n-blast charters back around as a mainstay. We like to start off way back in the marsh somewhere, hunkered down in a blind, waiting for ducks to pull into our spreads of decoys. If we experience decent shooting, which we do on most days, we’ll be done with the ducks about the time the sun is up good and has had some time to heat up the water in those muddy back-lakes. Then, we usually start off fishing our way out by targeting redfish not far from where we hunted. This usually means fishing in the shallower parts of the place, if the tide’s high and the weather warm, in some of the deeper guts and drains if the tide levels and temperatures are lower. On the best days, we catch plenty of reds without using up the rest of our time, and we’re able to work our way out and fish some of the grassy, sandy shorelines in the main bodies of water, trying to catch some trout before we call it a day. This entire process is just so much fun.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay
Captain James Sanchez Guide Service - 210.260.7454
November brings colder temperatures and more predictable fishing patterns as our tides drop. With the passing of early fronts and cooling temperatures, we find trout and redfish on shallow flats and along shorelines that remain covered by higher tides. My strategy will involve wading through sets of potholes in knee to thigh-deep water where there are concentrations of mullet. Using topwater lures like the Mansfield Knockers or Texas Custom Double Ds can produce some exciting surface action, which can last throughout the day. If the action at the surface slows down, I’ll switch to rigging a KWigglers Wig-A-Lo or Willow Tail Shad on a light jighead. As stronger fronts drop water temperatures into the upper-50s to low-60s, patterns will change, and fish will move to deeper waters adjacent to shallow structures. Wading drop-offs in waist-deep water, particularly near seagrass beds and potholes, can yield keeper trout, even trophy-sized fish. I recommend starting with a KWigglers Ball Tail Shad in plum perfect, bone diamond, pearl or naked Margarita rigged on an eighth-ounce jighead in the cooler weather, then switching up to a Paul Brown Fat Boy or Soft-Dine XL in hopes of catching a bigger fish in the area.

Corpus Christi & Baffin Bay | Capt. Chris Elliott’s Guide Service
[email protected] - 361.834.7262
Fall has officially arrived, and the fishing in and around Baffin has been fantastic lately. With cooler water temperatures in the mornings, we’re having a lot of success throwing topwaters on flats covered by shallow water, catching plenty of trout and redfish. The last couple weeks brought us some higher water levels that really pushed the bait up onto the flats that have been too shallow to fish most of the summer. This has caused something of a problem related to floating grass, but I expect that issue to be a short-term situation. As we move farther into fall, most of this grass will get pushed onto the shorelines by the passage of cold fronts. As this next month goes by, expect to see a slow but steady drop in water temperatures. With the dog days of summer behind us, we like to start the mornings fishing in shallow water, looking for signs of nervous bait. Bull redfish are in the midst of their annual migration to the Gulf and the flounder will be starting their migration soon. This is a great time to fish near the Intracoastal Waterway and intercept some of these fish as they move out for the winter.

P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins
361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com
By November, some highly anticipated cold fronts should have arrived. As of now, the mullet migration is in full swing, bringing red drum and jackfish into the surf in great numbers. The Upper Coast beaches will have more bull reds moving inshore; farther south, more slot reds will be available, along with other species. By the end of the month and into early December, giant bull reds will move into the surf of South Texas. Mullet caught in cast nets work well to target these. While tossing out mullet, anglers can also expect to catch jacks, mackerel and bluefish. Areas farther south along the coast provide better chances at a surf tarpon before they migrate out. Near the end of the month, expect pompano to move in. Usually, the first waves of pompano of the season produce some of the largest specimens, sometimes big numbers of them. Fish-bites and shrimp are prime baits for both the pompano and black drum. One of the most thrilling surf fishing experiences in the fall in Texas is chasing jack crevalle as they storm the beaches. While they’re easy to catch on live mullet, many of us find sight-casting them with spoons and topwaters more exciting.

Port Mansfield, Texas | Ruben Garza
Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431
GetAway Lodge - 956.944.4000
When waterfowl and deer seasons open, we hear lots of shots fired. When moving around in the bays this month, boaters should keep their eyes open for spreads of decoys. No one wants to be peppered by shots from angry or careless duck hunters. Aside from the hunters, strong cold fronts present the biggest hazards to safety in the Thanksgiving month. Anyone heading out onto the water this time of year should have checked the weather forecast and be ready to adjust plans if and when a strong north wind makes crossing some areas uncomfortable or unsafe. This month, the Saucer area produces great catches on a consistent basis. The East Break, where the sand and grass lines meet, is a great area to start the morning off, in the shallows, then working toward middle sections of the area as the sun rises. Action on regular topwaters or floating Paul Brown Lures and Texas Custom Lures is usually hot early this time of year. The Pipeline and the submerged spoils just north of Bennie’s can be productive too. Up north, the west shoreline around Century Point, the Oak Mottes and the shoreline just south of Gladys Hole are best after strong fronts subside.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel
Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com - 956.639.1941
Recent changes in weather have had a positive influence on fishing in the Lower Laguna Madre. Trout fishing has been great, with the most reliable bite coming in water about two to four-feet deep covering grassy flats riddled with potholes and plentiful bait. With calm conditions during early morning hours, areas close to and right on sandbars that lie close to the ICW have been especially productive. Z-Man’s five-inch scented StreakZ in Beer Run color, rigged on quarter-ounce Eye-Strike jigheads have become a go-to setup when jigged slowly along bottom. The redfish bite on shallow flats in the back bays has also been hot. Calm conditions during early morning hours makes it pretty easy to spot the feeding activity of schooling and tailing reds. We search for lots of active bait to help eliminate non-productive patches of water. Right now, Z-Man’s four-inch Gold Fire Big BallerZ rigged on eighth-ounce Eye-Strike Texas-Eye jigheads are hard to beat for reds. Later in the day, when winds pick up, I head to grass flats and target the reds in two to three-foot depths. The good old quarter-ounce gold weedless spoon works great anywhere that floating grass makes it difficult to fish the plastics.